Tatuaje & L’Atelier Salesforce Sees Changes

In the last few weeks, there have been two unrelated changes to how products from Tatuaje and L’Atelier Imports are sold, particularly in the eastern U.S.

The companies are separate entities, but are both owned in part by Pete Johnson and as such oftentimes share resources like trade show space, events and sales representatives. Previously, the companies exclusively used independent brokers, but shortly before the IPCPR Convention & Trade Show last month, two “in-house” sales representatives were hired.

“We are very excited to welcome both Moe ElAraby and Ted Tetkowski to the Tatuaje and L’Atelier families,” said Sean “Casper” Johnson of L’Atelier Imports in a statement to halfwheel. “They are our first dedicated in house sales representatives and will be servicing the New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Eastern PA, DC and Delaware regions.”

Independent sales representatives are free to work with other brands, where as “in-house” representatives are exclusive and oftentimes full-time employees of a particular company. Previously, many of Tatuaje’s brokers have also sold products from Illusione, J. Fuego and XIKAR amongst others.

But that wasn’t the only change.

Earlier this week, two of the Tatuaje and L’Atelier Imports brokers announced a new a partnership. CHIMP Inc., the brokerage company manned by Taven Johnson and Stefan Mayer, and brothers Pete and Steve Hernandez announced that both companies will now serve the Alabama, Georgia and North and South Carolina markets for Tatuaje and L’Atelier.

The Hernandez brothers will continue to be the representatives for Tatuaje and L’Atelier in Florida, while CHIMP Inc. will continue to serve other states in the southeast on its own.

Charlie Minato

I am an editor and co-founder of halfwheel.com/Rueda Media, LLC. I previously co-founded and published TheCigarFeed, one of the two predecessors of halfwheel. I have written about the cigar industry for more than a decade, covering everything from product launches to regulation to M&A. In addition, I handle a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff here at halfwheel. I enjoy playing tennis, watching boxing, falling asleep to the Le Mans 24, wearing sweatshirts year-round and eating gyros. echte liebe.